Now here’s an odd sign of the times: A new law passed in Virginia allows Notary Publics to Notarize documents via Webcam. They claim this will vastly increase the security of the notarization process, although I can see dozens of ways this can go wrong.
Bill HB 2318 – now the law of the state – was created as a way to counteract notary fraud such as that most recently seen in the “robo-signing” frauds conducted during the foreclosure crisis.
Virginia’s law outlines a model for notarization that vastly increases the security of notarial transactions. Webcam-based notarization can reduce vulnerability to fraud while also being more convenient, particularly for disabled consumers. NotaryNow, the online notary service, intends to utilize the law in its own service offering.
I don’t know the details of the law, but this is both an exciting and scary proposition. What do you think?
The latest commercial for Halo: Reach “Deliver Hope” shows some fantastic VFX and CG work alongside Live Action, and is the focus of a new interview available on the Chaos Group’s website.
Halo: Reach “Deliver Hope” is an emotional live-action trailer with stunning effects and awesome animation, recently acknowledged with VES Award for outstanding visual effects. Can you share more from ‘the kitchen’ of the project?
Are you trying to taste what I’m cooking here? With a commercial production this large you pretty much have to raid the pantry. That includes using grandma’s fine china plates. The main course for this commercial was Maya and Houdini. Grilling was done by Nuke and Flame. Then for desert Artists had the choice between 3 Renderers to use on Halo. Renderman, Mantra, or V-Ray.
Watch the commercial below, then read the entire interview.
V-Ray 2.0 brings some awesome features to the table, but hasnt’ made it out to the Maya crowd yet. In fact, they’ve just announced a new “Beta” program for Maya users, bringing all the V-Ray RT, Python callbacks, and fancy shaders to the users.
Hailed by many as the preeminent rendering engine for Maya, V-Ray for Maya is about to see a significant increase in power! On March 30th, the V-Ray for Maya 2.0 upgrade will begin its much anticipated Beta testing, with a tentative release at the end of April 2011.
Join the V-Ray 2.0 for Maya Beta Program and be among the first to test this advanced rendering technology for all Maya users. It’s your help and feedback that will make this product even better.
The Mobile Market is growing by the minute, all over the World! So, today’s selection from Visual Loop brings some of the latest facts and numbers about the industry and smartphones, like the MobiTV‘s take on how Mobile has changed the way we live . From Instant Merchant, comes the overview on how soon will cell phones replaces our wallets, followed by some precious tips concerning Mobile theft, by Social Cast, and an explanation about the costs of data roaming, provided by Onavo. And to speak of the Mobile industry without mentioning the iPhone it’s somewhat impossible these days, so, we leave here also the complete iPhone 5 rumor roundup, made by Nowhere Else.
The 2nd annual “Augmented Reality Event” (ARE) has posted some quick details on their upcomign schedule including presentations by Bruce Sterline, Vernor Vinge, and Will Wright.
Also returning from last year’s event, Blaise Aguera Y Arcas (a leader in Microsoft’s mobile strategy), to top his Ted talk demonstrating innovations in Bing Maps and Augmented Reality. And if that’s not enough magic – Marco Tempest, the world’s most notable AR magician will stun the audience with a live magic show.
You can get the full list of speakers at their site, or read the press release after the break.
Yesterday, we talked about Social Media, but even not being a dominant force in that world – c’mon, how many of you have an Orkut account, seriously? – , Google is still thedominant force of the internet. Today we bring several recent infographics about the Mountain View giant, starting with Level 343‘s roundup of the search engine’s significant algorithm changes. After that, we have the battle against Content Farms, from Focus, and the SEO cat & mouse game, presented by SEO Book, followed by the funny Google Helmet, made by Get Satisfaction. And to close, a look at the rivalry between Google and Bing, as seen by iCrossing.
Pixar has some initial concept art out for their next feature film ‘Brave’, their 13th picture. It’s a bit of a departure from their previous kid-focused films, moving more into the fantasy arena.
Brave is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Merida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman (Julie Walters) and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Merida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), the surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson), and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane).
Scientific American has a short article on “the great circle debate” in visualization, how circles can be seduction to graphics designers but bring several difficult problems into presentation of data. Rather than focusing on the many things wrong with circle-based visualizations, the article takes a rather graphic-design oriented view and advocates using them.
Others, such as Alberto Cairo (director for infographics and multimedia at Época-Editora Globo), worry that bar and line charts have become too familiar, and risk being overlooked or dismissed too quickly by the reader. These standard visualization formats are indisputably elegant solutions, but information-graphics professionals should not rest on their haunches and rely too heavily on a form established in the late 1700s. Instead, we should push the boundaries and explore new ways of presenting the data in an effort to better engage the reader. Perhaps it was in this spirit that the proportional circle chart was born.
Update 3/30: Alberto Cairo responds to the quote above, stating that it was taken completely out of context. Read his rebuttal in the comments.
If you enjoy playing Fruit Ninja on your iPhone or iPad, then you should check out what some enterprising germans have built inside a 4-walled cave at FH-Wedel.
VR-Project at FH-Wedel Germany in a 4 sided CAVE
Virtual Reality based on 3D cognition, placed sounds over a 5.1 sound system, buttkickers in the floor and haptic feedback through a Wii-Mote.
Now here’s an odd sign of the times: A new law passed in Virginia allows Notary Publics to Notarize documents via Webcam. They claim this will vastly increase the security of the notarization process, although I can see dozens of ways this can go wrong.
The latest commercial for Halo: Reach “Deliver Hope” shows some fantastic VFX and CG work alongside Live Action, and is the focus of a new interview available on the Chaos Group’s website.
V-Ray 2.0 brings some awesome features to the table, but hasnt’ made it out to the Maya crowd yet. In fact, they’ve just announced a new “Beta” program for Maya users, bringing all the V-Ray RT, Python callbacks, and fancy shaders to the users.
The Mobile Market is growing by the minute, all over the World! So, today’s selection from 
The 2nd annual “Augmented Reality Event” (ARE) has posted some quick details on their upcomign schedule including presentations by Bruce Sterline, Vernor Vinge, and Will Wright.
Yesterday, we talked about Social Media, but even not being a dominant force in that world – c’mon, how many of you have an Orkut account, seriously? – , Google is still thedominant force of the internet. Today we bring several recent infographics about the Mountain View giant, starting with 
Pixar has some initial concept art out for their next feature film ‘Brave’, their 13th picture. It’s a bit of a departure from their previous kid-focused films, moving more into the fantasy arena.
Scientific American has a short article on “the great circle debate” in visualization, how circles can be seduction to graphics designers but bring several difficult problems into presentation of data. Rather than focusing on the many things wrong with circle-based visualizations, the article takes a rather graphic-design oriented view and advocates using them.
If you enjoy playing 
VizWorld.com 
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